In the new season, Russians are once again traveling to North Korea. According to participants’ reviews, local residents appear friendly, guides try to be helpful, and some travelers describe the experience as better than being at home.
At present, Russian tourists are the only foreigners allowed to visit the DPRK. Citizens of other countries are not being admitted. Even for Russians, however, these tours were resumed only last year.
The reopening followed Vladimir Putin’s visit to Pyongyang. It was his first trip to North Korea since 2000. During the visit, he signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty with the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un.
The document provides for mutual assistance in the event of aggression against either party. Russian authorities said the agreement was needed because of changes in the global geopolitical situation. A similar treaty between Moscow and Pyongyang was also in force during the Soviet era.
In the year that followed, delegations from the two countries traveled to each other’s capitals dozens of times, according to calculations by foreign journalists.
North Korea remains one of the world’s most closed states. Foreigners are rarely allowed in, and local residents cannot leave the country without special permission from the party.
The country is known for the ideology of Juche, usually rendered as “self-reliance.” It was developed and introduced by Kim Il Sung, who ruled the country from 1948 to 1994. The concept holds that the DPRK should remain free from outside influence and base its economy on domestic resources.
For many years, North Korea has been in international isolation because of its nuclear program. Sanctions have been imposed by the United States, the European Union, Australia, Japan, and South Korea.